Card-holder for freight-cars



T. A. DRAPER.

CARD HOLDER FOR FREIGHT CARS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. II, I920.

Patented Mar. 8, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEEI I.

....'II'IIIII III amoemtoz T. A. DRAPER.

CARD HOLDER FOR FREIGHT CARS.

APPLICATION Patented Mar- 8,1921

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

ammo;

aw W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TALBER'I A. DBAPER, OF RICHLANDS, VIRGINIA.

CARD-HOLDER FOR FREIGHT-CARS.

Specification .of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 8, 1921.

Application filed October 11, 1920. Serial No. 416,122

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, TALBERT A. DRAPER,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Richlands, in the county of Tazewell and State of Virginiayhave invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Card- Holders for F might-Bars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and

exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to devices for identifying freight cars and for indicating the V tare weight of the car to which the device is attached, the identifying feature of the device being particularly adapted to loaded freight cars in that it facilitates the transportation of the contents of the car by minimizing the liability of loss of the car in transit. It is a matter of common knowledge that there is a great delay in the movement of freight cars due principally to-the manner in which their movement is controlled. Every freight car that is to be moved after loading is put into a train and its movement is thereafter primarily controlled by the identification of the car by the road initials it bears and its number and the corresponding data which is placed on a waybill, one copy of which is kept by the companys agent and the other copy delivered to the conductor of the trairi first handling the car. The copy given the conductor must'be delivered to each succeeding conductor who subsequently has charge of the car and as-a result of these sometimes numerous transfers, the waybill not infrequently becomes separated from the car. The car is then practically lost, due to the loss of the information contained on the waybill and for this reason a car often stands for days, weeks or even months, on a side track until it can be found.

One object of the present invention is to provide a device that can be attached to the car and will accompany the car during its entire movement, said device carrying matter sufiicient to identify the car and other matter to indicate the tare weight thereof.

A further object is to construct a casin for the cards bearing the identifying and tare weight indicating matter which will positively protect said cards against injury such as would occur by the entry of rain water into the casing.

A further object is to so construct the opened, may conveniently be locked in closed positlon.

In the accompanying drawings:

- Figure 1 is a front view of the device forming the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a. similar view with the front of the casing opened and one of the tare weights indicating cards removed;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view'on the line Jr-4 of Fig. 2;

The casing in which'the identifying card is deposited, is composed essentially of two parts, the back 10 and the front 11. Back 10 is secured on the side of the freight car body 12 by any suitable fastening means, such as screws 13 and is preferably spaced from said car body by spacer blocks or members 14. I

The side portions of back 10 are bent outwardly from the car body and then back upon the back 10 to form guideways 15 for a slide 16 which carries the identification card 17 and at its bottom said back 10 is also bent outwardly to form the bottom 18 of the casing.

The front 11 is hinged on the back 10, at one side of the latter, and is yieldingly held closed by springs 19 coiled around the hinges. In the upper portion of front 11 there is provided a comparatively large opening 20 in which is secured any suitable transparent material such as a piece of glass or isinglass and in the lower portion of said front there is provided a series of three comparatively small apertures 21. Extending along the edges of these apertures 21 and on the inside of front 11 are guideways 22 for securing a numeral bearing plate 23 behind each of said openings. The

each of apertures 21. Fingers 24 extend upwardly and their free ends engage against the backs of plates 23 and securely hold the latter in position. Plates 23 being removable it is an easy matter to correct the indicated tare weight of a car any time a weigh master should find that the tare weightof the car has increased or decreased on account of repairs, replacement of worn parts, etc. 4

The identifying matter for ident fying the car is placed on the card 17 earned by the slide 16. Card 17 contains the number and initial of the car which it is to accomany; the place of origin of the loaded car; its contents; its destination, date of loading and route, and the name of the shipper and consignee in addition to other data helpful in identifying the car. Preferably identification card 17 is held on the slide 16 by slide ways by bending over the side edge portions of the slide or in any other suitable manner and the card may readily be removed after the car has reached its destination and has been unloaded. Card 17 remains in the casing during the entire time the car is in transit or remains loaded and, as the card is readily seen through aperture 20 in front 11 of the casing, .persons handling the cars can ascertam by a glance whether or not a car is empty or loadedan empty car being designated by the absence of an identification card and a loaded car by the presence of one of said cards. While the entire card is not visible through aperture 20 the downward movement of the card on slide 16 is limited by a stop 26 on the slide and the more important identifying matter is located on that part of the card i that is visible, thus rendering removal of the card for identification purposes unnecessary.

The card 17 is protected from exposure to the weather by a roof for the casing which is so constructed as to prevent water entering the casing where it might come in con-' tact with the card and obliterate the identification matter written thereon. Preferably the roof is formed on the upper end of slide 16 as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2 and consists of a substantially flat, horizontal portion 27 provided at each of its edges with a depending flange 28. The flanges 28 are spaced from the slide 16 and extend downwardly beyond the upper end of casing 10 and any water drawing off the roof cannot possibly enter the casing. The flanges 28 on the roof also lock the front 11 of the casing in its closed position after the slide and card have been inserted in the casing. This affords a convenient locking means and carelessness on the part of employees will very seldom result in leaving the front una slide carrying the card and msertible' through the top of the casing, and a to for the casing having flanges at each side a a ted to extend below the top edges of the si es of the casing, whereby entry of water is prevented.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a casing for the identification card, said casing being open atvits upper end, a slide carrying the identification card, and a roof for the casing formed on said slide, said roof having depending portions extending below and on the outside of the upper end of the said casing, whereb entry of water into the casing is prevente 3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a casing for the car identification card, said casing comprising a fixed portion attached to the car and a hinged front portion secured to said fixed portion, said casing having an open end when the front ortion is closed, and a slide carryin the id zantification card insertible into and removable from the casing through said open end.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a casing comprising a fixed part adapted to be secured to the car, a hinged front portion, means for securing a car identification card in said fixed part of the casing, and means for securing tare weight indicating cards within the hinged portion of said casing, there being an aperture in said hinged front portion to view the car identifying matter on the card and a series of apertures in said hinged front portion for viewing the tare wei ht indicating cards and means on the exterlor of the casing for locking the hinged portion in closed position.

5. In a device of the character described,

the combination of a casing for an identification card, said casing being open at its upper end, a roof for said casing adapted to cover said opening, a depending flange extending along each edge of said roof, and identification card carrying means secured to said roof and spaced from said flanges,

whereby said flanges may project below the upper end of the casing.

TALBERT A.'DRAPER. 

